Watching
by XxTwistedThornxX
Summary: And then she felt it. Eyes. Watching her. It wasn't the familiar, passionate, burn of Erik's topaz gaze, but something else. Something sinister.  Leroux.


**So, number two to my "7 fics in 7 days" challenge. R&R, if you please! I have a feeling that many of these will be slightly ridiculous. I've enlisted the help of a friend to give me prompts for each of these 7 days and she seems to want to challenge me. Now, this is more humor than romance, but there are one or two little peeks into romance, so I kept the genre.**

"Maestro…"

"Christine?"

"What is that?"

Erik followed the young girl's pointed finger and gazed at the target for a moment before returning to his music.

"That is a Mongoose, my dear."

Christine stared at the creature. It stood on a platform, one paw raised as though it were stalking her. Its teeth were bared and its ears flat against its head.

Its beady, obsidian eyes glared at her.

"I've…never seen it before."

Erik sat at the piano, rearranging the sheet music for the fourth time that evening.

"Erik found it in a back room," he explained. "It was a gift when he was in Persia, the man who gave it to me claimed to have hunted it in Africa. Now, if you please, Christine?" Erik motioned for her to join him near the piano and she complied, with one more quick glance to the animal.

Erik's slender fingers began to dance elegantly along the ivory keys. He played a short introduction, then nodded his head once to signal his angel to begin singing.

Christine's voice rang through the drawing room, clear and beautiful as a church bell. Erik allowed his eyelids to droop at the sound.

His Christine.

His angel.

Erik's chest swelled with pride every time she sang for him. Her voice, which he had trained and tuned for hours and hours, was perfection. Oh, how he longed to hear her heavenly song for the rest of his life. If only the music never had to end!

Christine couldn't keep from smiling as she watched her Maestro lose himself in the aria. Her eyes roamed from the euphoric expression on his face, down to his prancing fingertips. He was at peace, and that meant she was, as well. Her own eyes closed as she succumbed to the music's soft embrace.

And then she felt it.

Eyes.

Watching her.

It wasn't the familiar, passionate, burn of Erik's topaz gaze, but something else.

Something sinister.

Christine's blue eyes fluttered open, and made direct contact with the glassy eyes of the mongoose. It stared at her with the same feral snarl as before, its yellow fangs looked even more intimidating in the light of the fire.

Shocked, Christine's high C transformed into an ear-splitting shriek.

Erik jerked. His hands crashed against the keys, a staccato of mismatched notes accenting the soprano's botched performance.

"Christine!" He shouted, one hand to his chest to calm his rapid breaths. "What in the flaming hell was that?"

Christine winced and clasped her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Maestro, I just…"

"Yes?"

"I just…"

Erik grit his teeth.

"Out with it, child!"

Christine cowered and pointed to the offending creature.

"It's staring at me!"

Erik arched an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder at the stuffed mongoose on his mantle. With a scoff, he turned back to the piano and ran his fingers over the keys to calm himself completely.

"Christine, ma petite ange, the creature is dead. It is unable to stare." Erik stated simply.

"Its eyes are still upon me!" The blonde countered.

"You have eyes upon you while you sing everyday," Erik snapped. He took a deep breath and fiddled with his sheet music. It would not do to get upset with his angel so close to opening night. "Just ignore it and let us start from the beginning."

Christine swallowed thickly and nodded, but she could not tear her gaze away from the animal

Erik played the opening again and motioned for her to begin, but Christine's voice shook and cracked like an adolescent's. With a frustrated growl, Erik threw his hands up in the air.

"Enough!" He commanded. "Is that how you plan to enrapture the audience?"

"I'm sorry! No, please, Maestro, wait!" Christine protested as Erik slammed the lid down over the keys and stood. She reached out for him but he stepped away.

"If Christine is not going to take this seriously, then Erik shall not waste his time!"

"But, I _am _taking this seriously! Please, angel!"

Erik paused. He could feel his angel's pleading blue eyes boring into his back. Oh, how cruel was he! Erik turned towards her and sighed.

"If Erik disposes of the damned thing, will Christine focus on her lesson?"

Christine nodded eagerly. Erik turned from her once again, plucked the beast from the mantle, and left the room. The drawing room felt much lighter around her with it gone and Christine gave a relieved sigh.

Erik returned a few minutes later, sans the mongoose. Without a word, he returned to the piano bench and began playing.

Luckily, the rest of their lesson went on without a hitch.

Three nights later, the Opera Garnier was in a frenzy. The ballet girls were aflutter as they squeezed in extra rehearsals, the band focused on tuning and retuning their instruments, and Christine was in her dressing room, listening intently to some final advice from her angel.

"Just remember to keep your tongue relaxed, ange, and you will do fine." Erik assured her, fixing the blonde curls that had strayed from her hairpins. Christine smiled and nodded.

"I will make you proud."

Erik affectionately stroked her cheek before he ushered her out of the dressing room, muttering hurried words of encouragement.

Christine took her time making her way to the stage, the opera was not due to begin quite yet. She'd rather spend the remaining time with Erik, but he was excited for the piece and wished to make his way to his private box before some fool aristocrat beat him to it.

She smiled. Erik had been in an unusually good mood, though she figured it was because of all the time they had been spending in each other's company in the weeks before the gala.

Besides that one incident, their nightly lessons had gone much smoother. Since Erik removed the beast from the drawing room, there had been no more issues. Christine didn't know, nor did she care, what he had done with it. All that mattered was she would never have to see the beady eyes of a mongoose again, and for that she felt a small sense of victory.

A shrill screeching had Christine grinding her teeth. She glanced down the hall and witnessed Carlotta shouting at a ballet girl, waving her arms wildly and switching between Spanish and French every other word, so the argument was impossible to decipher. With a huff, the diva threw her furs over her shoulder and sent the girl away with a look of disgust.

Christine felt her blood run cold.

Laying down the length of La Carlotta's arm, stitched in with the furs of multiple rabbits, minks, and other unsuspecting creatures, stared the black, soulless eyes of a mongoose.

_Oh, you win this time, you little demon!_

**So, the prompt I was given for today: "Mongoose"**


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